Michelin Guide

"Don Antonio’s knows its way around a pie. The namesake outpost, located in Naples, has been running strong since 1901. This kitchen's signature is the Montanara Starita—a lightly fried pizza laced with house-made tomato sauce, smoked mozzarella and basil, then finished in the wood-fired oven."

Guy Fieri

"Don Antonio promises that his restaurant of the same name serves up the best Neapolitan pizza in New York, and he doesn’t disappoint. Try the margherita with cooked Italian ham or calzone with mushrooms."

David Rosengarten

"Why would you ever deep-fry a pizza? And what does that even mean? The result, for me, is the most delicious pizza crust I have ever tasted, with old-world airiness about it, thrilling crunch, fetching internal softness and a subtle richness that comes from the deep-frying. Plus, “when you put it in the oven,” Caporuscio says, “the oil is evaporated, and the montanara is not greasy.”"

Arthur Bovino

"50 Best Pizzas in New York: Don Antonio - There, wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas are made with homemade mozzarella and a lesser-known style, the Montanara Starita, is made using a combination and technique that was created by Starita more than 10 years ago and has started being emulated by other pizza makers: the pizza dough is flash-fried. That’s right, it’s fried, then topped with Starita’s signature tomato sauce and smoked buffalo mozzarella, then fired in the oven."

J. Kenji López-Alt

"Yeah, they've got the same awesome crust, great sweet-fresh tomato sauce, and homemade cheese that make Kesté's pies so good, but the real draw here is what they're doing with the fryer. Must-Have: Montanara Starita."

J. Kenji López-Alt

"A quick sampler of the fried pies to come, the Montanarine and Montanarine Genovese are perfect little appetizers; balls of poofy, crispy dough topped with either their bright tomato sauce or a cooked mixture of onions and pancetta. Both get a sprinkling of Pecorino Romano."

Melissa Clark

"A pizza-calzone hybrid. Based on an elaborate dish I sampled at Don Antonio by Starita, a Midtown pizzeria, it has basil-perfumed ricotta and Parmesan in the center, and tomato sauce and melted mozzarella on top. It’s the best of both worlds, and an unexpected thing to do with a ball of pizza dough."

J. Kenji López-Alt

"Take the basic margherita and replace the Pecorino Romano's sharp nuttiness with the meaty heat of hot sopressata, and you've got the Diavola, a pie worth reckoning with."

Select Italy

"Everything about Don Antonio by Starita is, well, not simple, because it’s phenomenal. But it’s not complicated. The dough is soft and light, it’s almost as if it melts in your mouth with each heavenly bite. They’re simply flash-fried, so it’s just the right amount of “crust.” One was topped with onion and pancetta, the other a simple tomato sauce and a tiny basil leaf. TO. DIE. FOR."

Jordana Rothman

"If I tell you to order the Montanara Starita pizza at Don Antonio in midtown Manhattan—and only the Montanara Starita pizza at Don Antonio—and you report your disappointment with the pistachio pesto pie then you, brother, are beyond reproach."